A Buckhorn Summer

“Very,” Adam said with what sounded like a belated warning.

Having been a cop in a shit area rife with violent crime, Gray didn’t pay a lot of attention to bluster. “What do you say, Lisa?” As an incentive, he added, “I promise to keep you busy without overworking you, and if you enjoy the lake, well, then, it could feel as much like an extended vacation as not.”

Put on the spot, she finally nodded. “All right. Fine. I’ll be here at six and we can discuss it.”

“Not too early for you?”

Adam snorted. “She’ll just be finishing up her jog.”

Huh. So she liked to run? They had that in common. Gray wanted to know every little thing about her, but he could be patient. Maybe.

“If you’re ready, I can ring you up.”

Everyone followed him to the counter, and a minute after that he watched her go—his gaze glued to her small rounded butt in the short shorts. Damn. He remembered that sweet behind all too well, how it had fit in his hands, the tantalizing contrast of soft and firm.

With any luck at all, he’d be getting familiar again real soon.

CHAPTER TWO (#u196cbdf4-836b-541b-ace1-ffa573ae382f)

LUCKILY NO ONE was around when she untied the small fishing boat and pushed away from the dock. It took three pulls on the cord before she got the motor going, then she settled onto the hard wooden seat and started down the lake.

She could have used any of the boats; the family collectively had three inboard boats, two pontoons and a variety of rowboats and fishing boats. But this particular one was the quietest and she’d as soon not draw attention. She’d done enough of that already.

The sun had just started to rise from behind the hills, sending fingers of crimson and gold to cut through the lavender dawn and play across the calm surface of the lake. Taking it slow, Lisa watched a fish jump, saw a few birds diving, turned her face up to the warm, humid breeze.

She’d always loved the fast pace of her high-pressure job.

But she also loved the peace of the lake, and maybe it was past time to find a better balance between the two.

After showering off the sweat from her jog, she’d put on sunscreen and a touch of makeup. It hadn’t been easy, dodging all the curious questions and over-the-top speculation from Adam and Shohn yesterday. They’d teased, harangued and outrageously guessed without ever once coming close to the truth.

That she’d had a sizzling-hot one-night stand with a total stranger who had now, by the fickle hand of fate, relocated to her hometown.

Shohn and Adam were both utter hedonists, open in their own sexual pursuits. But when it came to her—or any of the women in the family, really—they played deaf, dumb and blind, at least with matters of sexuality. If she told them the truth, they’d be stunned, but she knew with complete confidence that they wouldn’t judge her harshly, would in fact back her up in anything she decided.

She loved them, but that hadn’t made it easy fending off their nonsense, all while lost in the reality of the situation.

It felt good to be home.

It felt...something altogether different knowing she’d shortly see her fantasy man again.

He was here, in Buckhorn, where she considered starting over.

He hadn’t forgotten her.

He wanted her to work with him day in and day out.

Did that mean he hoped to pick up where they’d left off, as if she’d be that easy?

Or did it mean he wasn’t interested and spending that much time with her in close proximity wouldn’t make him as lust-crazed as it would her?

No, she couldn’t believe that. Even Shohn and Adam had noticed his interest. And commented on it. Repeatedly.

“Lisa has an admirer,” Shohn had said in a childish singsong voice.

“All the single ladies will be so sad to know he’s already hooked,” Adam had added while patting a hand over his heart. “Guess I’ll just have to console them.”

“I think it was love at first sight.”

“Wait until he finds out she’s smarter than him.”

“And more motivated.”

“And better paid.”

Finally Lisa had willingly gone over the side of the boat, opposite from where they’d cast their fishing lines. Ignoring their calls, she’d swum to shore and pretended to consider walking back until they both begged her not to. If it hadn’t been for the cow patties everywhere she tried to step, and the occasional spider web stretched between colorful weeds, she would have walked. But she wasn’t an idiot.

Just embarrassed. And overcome with lust. And now even more fixated on her fantasy man.

Gray Neely.

On top of being the sexiest, most gorgeous man she’d ever met, he was also kind and considerate.

He’d willingly let her off the hook, promising not to speak of their previous acquaintance.

He was also macho, a man’s man, easily meshing with her brother and cousin. How he’d looked...

She drew in a shuddering breath, filling her lungs with country air, and again pictured him in her mind. Rugged beard stubble. Alert gray eyes, focused on her. Hair longer and more disheveled. Loose board shorts and laceless sneakers, his shirt open, his muscled, hairy chest bare.

Damn, but her mouth watered, and she was so distracted she didn’t dock as smoothly as usual. A frog leaped away as she drew a line through the cleat on the dock and secured the boat. A few more deep breaths and, hiking her canvas tote bag over her shoulder, she climbed out of the boat.

From the shadows of the gas pumps three docks down, a deep voice said, “I figured you’d come by water.” Shirtless, barefoot, wearing only trunks, he pushed to his feet and strode toward her. His dark hair was wet, slicked back, his sinner’s eyelashes spiked, his beard even more noticeable.

He stopped only a few feet from her, his gaze taking a lazy stroll from her braided hair down her body to the flip-flops on her feet. “Whenever I thought of you—and I did, often—I saw you in a business suit, your hair contained, your look professional. I liked that look a lot, especially since it was so different from the woman you became in my room.”

A wild woman, that’s what he meant, because that’s what she’d been. Her breath stalled. “Voices carry,” she whispered. “We can’t talk here on the lake.”

He held out a hand and, feeling as risqué as she had that night a month ago, she took it. God, she remembered his hands, so big and strong, a little rough from work, but warm and gentle as they’d touched her. Everywhere.

Silently he led her up to the store, and with each step she took, her heart jumped harder, faster. Low in her stomach, butterflies battled.

She was thirty years old, but she’d never, not once, experienced desire like this. Only with him.

One of the double doors stood open and as they stepped inside, Gray closed and locked it. Her breath caught and anticipation sharpened.

No lights were on and without the sun coming through the windows, it remained dark...and intimate.

He slowly backed her up to the wall and cupped one hand to the side of her face. “As I was saying.”